As you begin to evaluate your store and assess its various characteristics remember to consider lighting. Retail store lighting is an important contributor to your store’s success and effects both the mood of your customers and the mood of your employees. Often however retail store lighting is not given the attention that it should be given.
I was in a new home center recently. The store design was adequate, the fixtures new, the owner and staff obviously pleased with what they had accomplished. But the lighting was uneven and at a level far lower than it should have been. This store, like many I see today, had sealed and buffed the raw concrete floor. It had a semi-sheen in places. I say “places” because the reflective qualities of the floor were uneven just as they are uneven in every floor that I’ve ever seen finished in this way. I’m sure they saved some money over what a bright tile floor would have cost…or did they?
It’s difficult to quantify the effects of a poorly lighted store. I do know this: When our company completes PDQ (Penetration and Dispersion Quotient) studies of stores. (PDQ is a proprietary system we have developed to assess the traffic flow in a store) we often find a correlation between lower traffic and the darker areas of a sales space. I am referring to general merchandise stores (hardware and home centers are general merchandise stores) and not to stores like boutiques and gift stores where lower ambient lighting is sometimes used as a mood-setting device. But in stores using lower ambient levels, then, accent lighting becomes a tool with which one can manipulate attention and guide traffic.
What is a good lighting level? In a general merchandise store 75 is a good minimum fc (foot candle) rating to strive for. If your target customer is 55 or older, however then higher levels will be to their liking as higher lighting levels will afford them a more pleasant shopping experience.
